MANILA, Philippines–San Beda showed no rust after an 11-day layoff as it demolished Emilio Aguinaldo College, 118-64, Friday in the 87th NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
The entire Red Lions squad chipped in the scoring with at least two points, with Garvo Lanete starring with 23 points, more than half of them coming from the fourth quarter onslaught.
It was the highest winning margin since San Sebastian also dismantled EAC, 109-63, exactly two years ago.
Lanete fired eight straight points late in the fourth quarter giving the Red Lions a 40-point lead before the second stringers dumped 11 unanswered to conclude their 10th victory with just one loss.
“I’m happy I got to play everybody in the team. It was a good game for us. EAC is one of the teams we’re supposed to beat,” said San Beda head coach Frankie Lim.
San Beda’s strength proved too much as the defending champion outscored the Generals in every quarter, including a 36-8 difference in the payoff period.
“We just overpowered them offensively and defensively. The players were very unselfish,” added Lim, whose squad will embark on another long break which he believes will work to their advantage anew.
“I got them well rested and I didnt’ see anyone get tired today. I’ll just make them rest again.”
Milan Vargas, Franz Chiong and Remy Morada scored double-digits for EAC, which committed twice as many turnovers as San Beda (27-14) while notching only less than half of the assists (13-30).
The Generals reeled to their fifth straight loss for a 3-9 record, only good for ninth place out of the 10 teams in the standings.